Kerrie Maloney: Hedgehog for Grown Up Girls (and Boys)

Growing up Hedgehog slice was a bit of a luxury, it did not go far enough in a large family with hungry boys. Over the years I have developed a variety of versions of this simple slice, some more indulgent than others. Tonight is my first night back at my knitting group, my supper offering for the ladies is one of the more indulgent versions. I hope that they are not on diets and have gotten over all their Christmas indulgences and New Year resolutions.

As with all hedgehog recipes, it is simple to make, requires no baking and keeps very well. (if you can show a little restraint) I vary the nuts and glace fruits to suit what I have on hand. This is my favourite one as I like combination of the pistachios and glace orange and happy to give it a bit of a zing with the orange liqueur. Experiment and use flavour combinations that you like. For ginger lovers glace ginger is delicious and goes very well with hazelnuts or good quality walnuts. I do not use peanuts in this slice or dried fruits, the indulgence of glace fruits is what makes this version a bit more special. I always ice with the melted dark chocolate and butter as it creates a rich and smooth finish to the slice without being as sweet as a traditional icing.

Hedgehog for Grown Ups

125 g butter

2/3 cup caster sugar

3 tablespoons cocoa

1 egg

3 tablespoons coconut (I prefer shredded)

½ cup pistachio nuts

3 slices glace orange, diced into small pieces

½ cup glace cherries, cut into halves

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 packet Marie biscuits, broken into smallish pieces

Optional

1 tablespoon Grand Marnier or other orange liqueur

1 qty of Choc Orange Icing. Recipe below

¼ cup pistachios chopped. Used to decorate

Melt butter and sugar over low heat.

Add cocoa and stir thoroughly, remove from heat.

Add coconut and egg, mix well.

Add essence and orange liqueur if using, pistachio nuts, cherries and glace orange. Mix well.

Add broken biscuits, smashing any large pieces as your stir it.

Press mixture into a greased and lined slice tin and refrigerate while making icing.

Pour icing over slice, sprinkle with chopped nuts and refrigerate for several hours/overnight

Cut into smallish squares and place in an airtight container. Store slice in the fridge.

Choc Orange Icing

125 g butter

1 large block dark chocolate (I use 220 g block Old Gold)

1 tablespoon Grand Marnier, omit if your prefer chocolate icing

Melt butter and chocolate together in a bowl over saucepan of hot water or the microwave . I use the microwave on medium power with 45 - 60 second bursts of power.

Stir to mix, add liqueur if using and mix again.

How to Make Hedgehog for Grown Ups

Melt butter and sugar over low heat.